VLeatherhead 2 - 0 Burgess Hill Town
(Morgan, Hutchings)
Leatherhead moved up to ninth in the League table with a comfortable 2-0 win against Burgess Hill.
Following on from two poor performances in cup competitions Tanners boss Mick Sullivan made some changes to his team’s starting line up.
Adam Goodwell returned to defence along side Jon Coke, Chris Boulter and Iain Hendry with Dan Dean brought into a holding position immediately in front of the back four.
This new defensive formation paid dividends as it stifled the Hillians’ attacks and gave added protection to Craig Bradshaw in goal.
Leatherhead started encouragingly with Goodwell linking up well with Josh Smith after 4 minutes. Smith took the ball to the edge of the box before unleashing a shot which forced a good save from Hillians keeper Joe Adams.
This was a far more encouraging start for Leatherhead than in recent matches. There were some good passing movements in the opening period with less of the ‘hit and hope’ long balls so characteristic of recent performances.
Leatherhead took the lead after 21 minutes. Goodwell played the ball through to Hassan Nyang who burst into the Burgess Hill area and fired a shot towards goal. Adams got down well to save but the ball was only cleared as far as Michael Morgan on the edge of the box. Morgan was able to pick his spot and stroked the ball into the net to score his first goal for Leatherhead since joining from Merstham last summer.
The Tanners got their second goal after 29 minutes. Morgan unselfishly played through Tommy Hutchings and the young Leatherhead marksman belted a trademark left foot torpedo from twenty yards and into the corner of the net.
Burgess Hill increasingly pushed forward in an effort to pull a goal back. But aside from a well saved header from Will Berry the Hillians were unable to break down the resolute Tanners defence in a one-sided opening period.
In the second half Leatherhead created further opportunities to increase their lead. Julian Osuwu-Bekoe worked himself into a goal scoring position but the Tanners striker took the ball too close to the advancing keeper and Adams got down well to gather the ball at his feet.
Burgess Hill made a few chances in the final ten minutes. John Lansdale forced a couple of good saves from Bradshaw and Steve Harper also went close with a shot from the edge of the area.
Leatherhead nearly added a third goal after 87 minutes when Smith worked his way into the box and headed the ball down to Dean Gunner. But the Tanners sub was unable to find the target as his hurried shot went wide of the mark.
Overall this was comfortably Leatherhead’s best performance of the season since their opening day win against Worthing. The winning margin could have been greater with some better finishing but he team played well as a unit and thoroughly deserved the three points.
Leatherhead: Craig Bradshaw, Jon Coke, Adam Goodwell (Michael Corbett), Chris Boulter, Iain Hendry, Hassan Nyang, Michael Morgan (Dean Gunner), Dan Dean, Julian Osuwu-Bekoe (Kwabena Agyei), Tommy Hutchings, Josh Smith
Match Report by Rod Ellis